Mawi Asgedom's Blog, page 4

Turn Relationship Pain into Gain: An Interview with Author Steve Ritter

Pain is part of every meaningful relationship. Yet we can all choose to make our pain useful.  In this interview,  Steve Ritter, talks to Mawi about his new book “Useful Pain: Why Your Relationships Need Struggle” and offers practical tools to better relationships during times of challenge.  Steve is a clinical social worker, consultant and organizational management coach.  He will be speaking this year at our Mawi Learning Summer Conference, focusing on how to build strong school cultures.

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Purchase Steve’s book “Useful Pain: Why Your Relationships Need Struggle” on Amazon.com.

The Power of Perseverance through the eyes of an Olympian: Interview with Meb Keflezighi

Long-distance runner Meb Keflezighi came to the United States with his family when he was 12 years old after feeling to Italy as a refugee from war torn Eritrea.  Early on, Meb discovered a passion for running that would lead him to win a silver medal in the 2004 Olympics Marathon competition and win the world-renowned NYC Marathon in 2009.

Alongside Meb’s phenomenal athletic success, his story of perseverance and discipline in the face of obstacles led him to found the MEB Foundation, promoting youth health, education and fitness through community investment and collaboration.

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In this interview, Meb shares insights from his personal story and reflects on the characteristic of perseverance as a major factor for success.   Meb will be speaking further on grit and perseverance at our summer Power of Adults Conference.  Register now to reserve your spot!  For more on Meb’s incredible life story, check out his inspirational biography “Run to Overcome“.

5 Upcoming Keynote Presentations

Here are five of the keynotes I’ll be giving  in the coming months:

1) Superintendent’s Roundtable: This will be to about 100 School Superintendents.  I am excited to inspire them and demonstrate the connection between non-cognitive skills and student achievement. They will each receive an advance copy of my new book, The 5 Powers of an Educator: How Educators and Parents Inspire Youth

2) Ontario Association for Math Education: I’m  excited to show the connection between mindset and math achievement.  I’ve spoken in Ontario over 20 times in my career and have enjoyed every visit.

3) Washington Association for Bilingual Education: Seattle is another place that feels like home. I’ll be keynoting at this bilingual education conference and focusing on strategies that educators can use to inspire bilingual students.

4) Commission on Adult Basic Education: I do a few presentations each year for organizations that focus on adult education.  You don’t hear too much about Adult Ed; early childhood, K12, and traditional college typically dominate the media conversation. But there are millions of adults in our country who are overcoming many challenges to gain basic literacy skills.

5) Kaskaskia College: This community college had their student body read my first book, Of Beetles and Angels, and I’m excited to meet the students and also provide professional development for the faculty.

My team is also gearing up for our summer Power of Adults conference for educators, parents, and community members who are passionate about inspiring youth.

 

Stop Talking About the Achievement Gap

The proverbial “Achievement Gap” describes the academic disparity between white and black/Hispanic students in our country.  I wonder sometimes: Has  the term “Achievement Gap”  gotten to the point where it is no longer useful, and might actually worsen the predicament it’s meant to fix?

Talk of the Achievement Gap might be compared to talk of going on a diet. If you’re talking about dieting, it means you probably haven’t lost much weight; and if you do somehow lose weight, you probably will gain it back shortly. We’ve tried lots of things:

Special, targeted programs aimed at boosting black/Hispanic student achievement.
Training to get Caucasian staff members more sensitive to diversity issues and continuing legacies of discrimination.
Programs that succeed at getting minority students into college, only to find out in many cases that the students drop out at high rates.

What’s wrong? Like the word “diet,” Achievement Gap is now an overwhelmingly negative, uninspiring term that conjures up dread among faculty that have heard the same thing for decades, with little change.   Can we change the conversation? Can we talk about the Greatness Opportunity? The raw brilliance, power, capability of all our students, and how we develop greatness – rather than decreasing persistent standardized testing gaps between races.

I’ve always had a vision that our youth – ALL OUR YOUTH –  are like supreme Jedi waiting to dazzle our world with their power and brilliance. But the Achievement Gap paradigm/lexicon has us training our Jedi to work as servers at the cantina in the rundown bar in Stars Wars 4, and using all our resources to increase  their customers served / minute.

The problem isn’t the gap; the problem is the uninspiring and often depressing conversation we have attached ourselves to as a country.  Minority kids know instinctively how uninspiring the “The Achievement Gap” paradigm is, and if we are honest with ourselves, we know it too as adults.

Differentiated Learning through Technology: Interview with David Vinca and Maya Lopuch

David Vinca is the Founder & CEO of eSpark Learning, which partners with schools to create a personalized learning plan for each student that utilizes iPads and hand-picked educational apps. Before eSpark, David spent four years teaching and four years as a management consultant. David has a BS from Pennsylvania State University and an MBA from the University of Chicago, where he studied social entrepreneurship.

Maya Lopuch is the Data Scientist at eSpark Learning.  Prior to joining eSpark, she was a researcher at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and she holds degrees in Economics and Public Policy from Stanford University and the University of Chicago.

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Where is your Secret Ocean?

Several times in my career, I’ve talked with inner cities kids who live just a mile from an ocean or a Great Lake, but have never visited. I’m always stunned and saddened when I meet these students.  I think, “How could you be so close to something so amazing, and never go?”

What if the same thing happen to all of us, in our own minds? Are there not wondrous places each of us can visit in our own minds and hearts that are but a “mile” away?  Places of growth, power, confidence, or forgiveness that would astound us with their beauty and majesty, if we only had the courage and imagination to go?

Where is that place for you? Get a pen; draw a mental map of an Ocean that is just a mile away for you; name your Ocean; and go visit today.

The Unexpected Benefits of Music: Interview with Elizabeth Frascoia

Listen in as Elizabeth Frascoia shares some of the unexpected benefits engaging in music can have, and what this can mean for youth.

Elizabeth Frascoia is a dedicated educator working in New York City and Los Angeles, committed to helping students of all ages gain greater confidence through music.  She has worked with over 10,000 students at the elementary, middle, high school, and college levels, as well as with community groups of all ages.  Elizabeth is a  regular clinician with the Queens College’s Kupferberg Center, NYC’s Musicworks, and the LA Jazz Society’s Jazz in Schools program, and also has a rich career as a freelance trombonist and vocalist.  National TV appearances include American Idol, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and Good Morning America.  Elizabeth holds a BA in Psychology from Harvard University, and an MA in Jazz Vocal Performance from Queens College.

Check out Elizabeth’s website 
Follow Elizabeth on Twitter

The Incredible Power of Adults

When I first started inspiring students thirteen years ago, I thought it was all about the students. And you really can do some incredible things by going straight to students and showing them how to unlock the full range of their internal powers.

About five year in, though, I realized that adults are the greatest leverage points for helping students. One inspired parent can have stunning, super-hero impact on their child’s long-term success. One educator who is passionate and well-trained can help tens of thousands of students in their career.

All across the world, I’ve been stunned, humbled, and inspired by educators and parents who are massive difference makers. That’s why my upcoming conference is called The Power of Adults. If you are an adult, and you want to have life-changing impact on the youth in your community, come to our conference. I promise to inspire you and equip you for incredible impact.

Registration closes in three days – Sign up Today. 

Creating the Community We Desire: Interview with Allan Davenport

Allan is the Principal of Crone Middle School (Naperville, IL). Allan’s interview shares specific strategies for building a culture of success and respect in a middle school of 1,000 students.  You will also learn what he means when he says, “The Crone Way.”

A Cultural Shift Reduces Bullying by 1/3: Interview with Elizabeth Carswell (Conference Sneak Peek!)

Meet Elizabeth Carswell, one of our keynoters for our upcoming Summer Conference. In this interview with Mawi, Elizabeth shares best practices from her work with 1,000 schools as the director of Core Essential Values, including the story of how one school reduced bullying by 33%.

Hear more from Elizabeth at our Mawi Learning Summer Conference: The Power of Adults